Modern optical devices and optical communications systems widely use fiber optic cables having optical fibers. Optical fibers are strands of glass fiber processed so that light beams transmitted through the glass fiber are subject to total internal reflection so that a large fraction of the incident intensity of light directed into the fiber is received at the other end of the fiber. Optical fibers usually have one or more coatings, for example a polymer coating made of acrylate or polyimide, to protect the surface of the fiber from chemical or mechanical damage.
To effect optical coupling, the end of each fiber is commonly presented for mating in a polished ferrule. A polished ferrule assembly is most readily prepared in a controlled setting wherein precision equipment and skilled personnel are available for cleaving the fiber, terminating the cleaved fiber in a ferrule, and polishing the ferrule and fiber to exacting tolerances. Alternatively, an end of an optical fiber cable can be optically coupled to a fiber stub that has already been terminated and polished in a ferrule. Several steps, including stripping, cleaving, and assembling, are implemented to terminate the optical fibers to stub fibers. These steps consume time and resources.
Improvements are desired.